How can I auto-elevate my batch file, so that it requests from UAC administrator rights if required?

I want my batch file to only run elevated. If not elevated, provide an option for the user to relaunch batch as elevated.

I'm writing a batch file to set a system variable, copy two files to a Program Files location, and start a driver installer. If a Windows 7/Windows Vista user (UAC enabled and even if they are a local admin) runs it without right-clicking and selecting "Run as Administrator", they will get 'Access Denied' copying the two files and writing the system variable.

I would like to use a command to automatically restart the batch as elevated if the user is in fact an administrator. Otherwise, if they are not an administrator, I want to tell them that they need administrator privileges to run the batch file. I'm using xcopy to copy the files and REG ADD to write the system variable. I'm using those commands to deal with possible Windows XP machines. I've found similar questions on this topic, but nothing that deals with relaunching a batch file as elevated.

There is an easy way without the need to use an external tool - it runs fine with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11 and is backwards-compatible too (Windows XP doesn't have any UAC, thus elevation is not needed - in that case the script just proceeds).

Check out this code (I was inspired by the code by NIronwolf posted in the thread Batch File - "Access Denied" On Windows 7?), but I've improved it - in my version there isn't any directory created and removed to check for administrator privileges):

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Elevate.cmd - Version 4
:: Automatically check & get admin rights
:: see "https://stackoverflow.com/a/12264592/1016343" for description
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 @echo off
 CLS
 ECHO.
 ECHO =============================
 ECHO Running Admin shell
 ECHO =============================

:init
 setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
 set cmdInvoke=1
 set winSysFolder=System32
 set "batchPath=%~dpnx0"
 rem this works also from cmd shell, other than %~0
 for %%k in (%0) do set batchName=%%~nk
 set "vbsGetPrivileges=%temp%\OEgetPriv_%batchName%.vbs"
 setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

:checkPrivileges
  NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL
  if '%errorlevel%' == '0' ( goto gotPrivileges ) else ( goto getPrivileges )

:getPrivileges
  if '%1'=='ELEV' (echo ELEV & shift /1 & goto gotPrivileges)
  ECHO.
  ECHO **************************************
  ECHO Invoking UAC for Privilege Escalation
  ECHO **************************************

  ECHO Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO args = "ELEV " >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO For Each strArg in WScript.Arguments >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO args = args ^& strArg ^& " "  >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO Next >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  
  if '%cmdInvoke%'=='1' goto InvokeCmd 

  ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "!batchPath!", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  goto ExecElevation

:InvokeCmd
  ECHO args = "/c """ + "!batchPath!" + """ " + args >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\cmd.exe", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"

:ExecElevation
 "%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\WScript.exe" "%vbsGetPrivileges%" %*
 exit /B

:gotPrivileges
 setlocal & cd /d %~dp0
 if '%1'=='ELEV' (del "%vbsGetPrivileges%" 1>nul 2>nul  &  shift /1)

 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 ::START
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 REM Run shell as admin (example) - put here code as you like
 ECHO %batchName% Arguments: P1=%1 P2=%2 P3=%3 P4=%4 P5=%5 P6=%6 P7=%7 P8=%8 P9=%9
 cmd /k

The script takes advantage of the fact that NET FILE requires administrator privilege and returns errorlevel 1 if you don't have it. The elevation is achieved by creating a script which re-launches the batch file to obtain privileges. This causes Windows to present the UAC dialog and asks you for the administrator account and password.

I have tested it with Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 and with Windows XP - it works fine for all. The advantage is, after the start point you can place anything that requires system administrator privileges, for example, if you intend to re-install and re-run a Windows service for debugging purposes (assumed that mypackage.msi is a service installer package):

msiexec /passive /x mypackage.msi
msiexec /passive /i mypackage.msi
net start myservice

Without this privilege elevating script, UAC would ask you three times for your administrator user and password - now you're asked only once at the beginning, and only if required.

---

If your script just needs to show an error message and exit if there aren't any administrator privileges instead of auto-elevating, this is even simpler: You can achieve this by adding the following at the beginning of your script:

@ECHO OFF & CLS & ECHO.
NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL & IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (ECHO You must right-click and select &
  ECHO "RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR"  to run this batch. Exiting... & ECHO. &
  PAUSE & EXIT /D)
REM ... proceed here with admin rights ...

This way, the user has to right-click and select "Run as administrator". The script will proceed after the REM statement if it detects administrator rights, otherwise exit with an error. If you don't require the PAUSE, just remove it. Important: NET FILE [...] EXIT /D) must be on the same line. It is displayed here in multiple lines for better readability!

---

On some machines, I've encountered issues, which are solved in the new version above already. One was due to different double quote handling, and the other issue was due to the fact that UAC was disabled (set to lowest level) on a Windows 7 machine, hence the script calls itself again and again.

I have fixed this now by stripping the quotes in the path and re-adding them later, and I've added an extra parameter which is added when the script re-launches with elevated rights.

The double quotes are removed by the following (details are here):

setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
set "batchPath=%~0"
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

You can then access the path by using !batchPath!. It doesn't contain any double quotes, so it is safe to say "!batchPath!" later in the script.

The line

if '%1'=='ELEV' (shift & goto gotPrivileges)

checks if the script has already been called by the VBScript script to elevate rights, hence avoiding endless recursions. It removes the parameter using shift.

---

Update:

• To avoid having to register the .vbs extension in Windows 10, I have replaced the line
  "%temp%\OEgetPrivileges.vbs"
  by
  "%SystemRoot%\System32\WScript.exe" "%temp%\OEgetPrivileges.vbs"
  in the script above; also added cd /d %~dp0 as suggested by Stephen (separate answer) and by Tomáš Zato (comment) to set script directory as default.

• Now the script honors command line parameters being passed to it. Thanks to jxmallet, TanisDLJ and Peter Mortensen for observations and inspirations.

• According to Artjom B.'s hint, I analyzed it and have replaced SHIFT by SHIFT /1, which preserves the file name for the %0 parameter

• Added del "%temp%\OEgetPrivileges_%batchName%.vbs" to the :gotPrivileges section to clean up (as mlt suggested). Added %batchName% to avoid impact if you run different batches in parallel. Note that you need to use for to be able to take advantage of the advanced string functions, such as %%~nk, which extracts just the filename.

• Optimized script structure, improvements (added variable vbsGetPrivileges which is now referenced everywhere allowing to change the path or name of the file easily, only delete .vbs file if batch needed to be elevated)

• In some cases, a different calling syntax was required for elevation. If the script does not work, check the following parameters:
  set cmdInvoke=0
set winSysFolder=System32
  Either change the 1st parameter to set cmdInvoke=1 and check if that already fixes the issue. It will add cmd.exe to the script performing the elevation.
  Or try to change the 2nd parameter to winSysFolder=Sysnative, this might help (but is in most cases not required) on 64 bit systems. (ADBailey has reported this). "Sysnative" is only required for launching 64-bit applications from a 32-bit script host (e.g. a Visual Studio build process, or script invocation from another 32-bit application).

• To make it more clear how the parameters are interpreted, I am displaying it now like P1=value1 P2=value2 ... P9=value9. This is especially useful if you need to enclose parameters like paths in double quotes, e.g. "C:\Program Files".

• If you want to debug the VBS script, you can add the //X parameter to WScript.exe as first parameter, as suggested here (it is described for CScript.exe, but works for WScript.exe too).

• Bugfix provided by MiguelAngelo: batchPath is now returned correctly on cmd shell. This little script test.cmd shows the difference, for those interested in the details (run it in cmd.exe, then run it via double click from Windows Explorer):
  

  @echo off
  setlocal
  set a="%~0"
  set b="%~dpnx0"
  if %a% EQU %b% echo running shell execute
  if not %a% EQU %b% echo running cmd shell
  echo a=%a%, b=%b% 
  pause
  

Useful links:

• Meaning of special characters in batch file:
  Quotes ("), Bang (!), Caret (^), Ampersand (&), Other special characters

As jcoder and Matt mentioned, PowerShell made it easy, and it could even be embedded in the batch script without creating a new script.

I modified Matt's script:

:: Check privileges 
net file 1>NUL 2>NUL
if not '%errorlevel%' == '0' (
	powershell Start-Process -FilePath "%0" -ArgumentList "%cd%" -verb runas >NUL 2>&1
	exit /b
)

:: Change directory with passed argument. Processes started with
:: "runas" start with forced C:\Windows\System32 workdir
cd /d %1

:: Actual work

I do it this way:

NET SESSION
IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ELEVATE
GOTO ADMINTASKS

:ELEVATE
CD /d %~dp0
MSHTA "javascript: var shell = new ActiveXObject('shell.application'); shell.ShellExecute('%~nx0', '', '', 'runas', 1);close();"
EXIT

:ADMINTASKS
(Do whatever you need to do here)
EXIT

This way it's simple and use only windows default commands. It's great if you need to redistribute you batch file.

CD /d %~dp0 Sets the current directory to the file's current directory (if it is not already, regardless of the drive the file is in, thanks to the /d option).

%~nx0 Returns the current filename with extension (If you don't include the extension and there is an exe with the same name on the folder, it will call the exe).

There are so many replies on this post I don't even know if my reply will be seen.

Anyway, I find this way simpler than the other solutions proposed on the other answers, I hope it helps someone.

I am using Matt's excellent answer, but I am seeing a difference between my Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems when running elevated scripts.

Once the script is elevated on Windows 8, the current directory is set to C:\Windows\system32. Fortunately, there is an easy workaround by changing the current directory to the path of the current script:

cd /d %~dp0

Note: Use cd /d to make sure drive letter is also changed.

To test this, you can copy the following to a script. Run normally on either version to see the same result. Run as Admin and see the difference in Windows 8:

@echo off
echo Current path is %cd%
echo Changing directory to the path of the current script
cd %~dp0
echo Current path is %cd%
pause

Matt has a great answer, but it strips away any arguments passed to the script. Here is my modification that keeps arguments. I also incorporated Stephen's fix for the working directory problem in Windows 8.

@ECHO OFF
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

::net file to test privileges, 1>NUL redirects output, 2>NUL redirects errors
NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL
if '%errorlevel%' == '0' ( goto START ) else ( goto getPrivileges ) 

:getPrivileges
if '%1'=='ELEV' ( goto START )

set "batchPath=%~f0"
set "batchArgs=ELEV"

::Add quotes to the batch path, if needed
set "script=%0"
set script=%script:"=%
IF '%0'=='!script!' ( GOTO PathQuotesDone )
    set "batchPath=""%batchPath%"""
:PathQuotesDone

::Add quotes to the arguments, if needed.
:ArgLoop
IF '%1'=='' ( GOTO EndArgLoop ) else ( GOTO AddArg )
    :AddArg
    set "arg=%1"
    set arg=%arg:"=%
    IF '%1'=='!arg!' ( GOTO NoQuotes )
        set "batchArgs=%batchArgs% "%1""
        GOTO QuotesDone
        :NoQuotes
        set "batchArgs=%batchArgs% %1"
    :QuotesDone
    shift
    GOTO ArgLoop
:EndArgLoop

::Create and run the vb script to elevate the batch file
ECHO Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%temp%\OEgetPrivileges.vbs"
ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "cmd", "/c ""!batchPath! !batchArgs!""", "", "runas", 1 >> "%temp%\OEgetPrivileges.vbs"
"%temp%\OEgetPrivileges.vbs" 
exit /B

:START
::Remove the elevation tag and set the correct working directory
IF '%1'=='ELEV' ( shift /1 )
cd /d %~dp0

::Do your adminy thing here...

You can have the script call itself with psexec's -h option to run elevated.

I'm not sure how you would detect if it's already running as elevated or not... maybe re-try with elevated perms only if there's an Access Denied error?

Or, you could simply have the commands for the xcopy and reg.exe always be run with psexec -h, but it would be annoying for the end-user if they need to input their password each time (or insecure if you included the password in the script)...

I use PowerShell to re-launch the script elevated if it's not. Put these lines at the very top of your script.

net file 1>nul 2>nul && goto :run || powershell -ex unrestricted -Command "Start-Process -Verb RunAs -FilePath '%comspec%' -ArgumentList '/c %~fnx0 %*'"
goto :eof
:run
:: TODO: Put code here that needs elevation

I copied the 'net name' method from @Matt's answer. His answer is much better documented and has error messages and the like. This one has the advantage that PowerShell is already installed and available on Windows 7 and up. No temporary VBScript (*.vbs) files, and you don't have to download tools.

This method should work without any configuration or setup, as long as your PowerShell execution permissions aren't locked down.

For some programs setting the super secret __COMPAT_LAYER environment variable to RunAsInvoker will work.Check this :

set "__COMPAT_LAYER=RunAsInvoker"
start regedit.exe

Though like this there will be no UAC prompting the user will continue without admin permissions.

I wrote gsudo, a sudo for windows: that elevates in the current console (no context switching to a new window), with a credentials cache (reduced UAC popups), and also elevates PowerShell commands.

It allows to elevate commands that require admin privileges, or the whole batch, if you want. Just prepend gsudo before anything that needs to run elevated.

Example batch file that elevates itself using gsudo:

EDIT: New one liner version that works with any windows language and avoids whoami issues:

net session >nul 2>nul & net session >nul 2>nul || gsudo "%~f0" && exit /b || exit /b
:: This will run as admin ::

Alternative (original version):

@echo off
  rem Test if current context is already elevated:
  whoami /groups | findstr /b BUILTIN\Administrators | findstr /c:"Enabled group" 1> nul 2>nul && goto :isadministrator
  echo You are not admin. (yet)
  :: Use gsudo to launch this batch file elevated.
  gsudo "%~f0"
  goto end
:isadministrator
  echo You are admin.
  echo (Do admin stuff now).
:end

Install:

• via chocolatey: choco install gsudo
• or scoop: scoop install gsudo
• or grab it from github: https://github.com/gerardog/gsudo

See gsudo in action:

I recently needed a user-friendly approach and I came up with this, based on valuable insights from contributors here and elsewhere. Simply put this line at the top of your .bat script. Feedback welcome.

@pushd %~dp0 & fltmc | find "." && (powershell start '%~f0' ' %*' -verb runas 2>nul && exit /b)

Intrepretation:

• @pushd %~dp0 ensures a consistant working directory relative to this batch file; supports UNC paths

• fltmc a native windows command that outputs an error if run unelevated

• | find "." makes the error prettier, and causes nothing to output when elevated

• && ( if we successfully got an error because we're not elevated, do this...

• powershell start invoke PowerShell and call the Start-Process cmdlet (start is an alias)

• '%~f0' pass in the full path and name of this .bat file. Single quotes allow spaces in the path/file name

• ' %*' pass in any and all arguments to this .bat file. Funky quoting and escape sequences probably won't work, but simple quoted strings should. The leading space is needed to prevent breaking things if no arguments are present

• -verb runas don't just start this process...RunAs Administrator!

• 2>nul discard PowerShell's unsightly error output if the UAC prompt is canceled/ignored.

• && if we successfully invoked ourself with PowerShell, then...

  • NOTE: in the event we don't obtain elevation (user cancels UAC), then && allows the .bat to continue running without elevation, such that any commands that require it will fail but others will work just fine. If you want the script to simply exit instead of running unelevated, make this a single ampersand: &

• exit /b) exits the initial .bat processing, because we don't need it anymore; we have a new elevated process currently running our .bat. Adding /b allows cmd.exe to remain open if the .bat was started from the command line...it has no effect if the .bat was double-clicked

If you don’t care about arguments then here’s a compact UAC prompting script that’s a single line long. It doesn’t pass arguments through since there’s no foolproof way to do that that handles every possible combination of poison characters.

net sess>nul 2>&1||(echo(CreateObject("Shell.Application"^).ShellExecute"%~0",,,"RunAs",1:CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"^).DeleteFile(wsh.ScriptFullName^)>"%temp%\%~nx0.vbs"&start wscript.exe "%temp%\%~nx0.vbs"&exit)

Paste this line under the @echo off in your batch file.

Explanation

The net sess>nul 2>&1 part is what checks for elevation. net sess is just shorthand for net session which is a command that returns an error code when the script doesn’t have elevated rights. I got this idea from this SO answer. Most of the answers here feature net file instead though which works the same. This command is fast and compatible on many systems.

The error level is then checked with the || operator. If the check succeeds then it creates and executes a WScript which re-runs the original batch file but with elevated rights before deleting itself.

---

Alternatives

The WScript file is the best approach being fast and reliable, although it uses a temporary file. Here are some other variations and their dis/ad-vantages.

PowerShell

net sess>nul 2>&1||(powershell saps '%0'-Verb RunAs&exit)

Pros:

• Very short.
• No temporary files.

Cons:

• Slow. PowerShell can be slow to start up.
• Spews red text when the user declines the UAC prompt. The PowerShell command could be wrapped in a try{...}catch{} to prevent this though.

Mshta WSH script

net sess>nul 2>&1||(start mshta.exe vbscript:code(close(Execute("CreateObject(""Shell.Application"").ShellExecute""%~0"",,,""RunAs"",1"^)^)^)&exit)

Pros:

• Fast.
• No temporary files.

Cons:

• Not reliable. Some Windows 10 systems will block the script from running due to Windows Defender intercepting it as a potential trojan.

I pasted this in the beginning of the script:

:: BatchGotAdmin
:-------------------------------------
REM  --> Check for permissions
>nul 2>&1 "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\icacls.exe" "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\system"

REM --> If error flag set, we do not have admin.
if '%errorlevel%' NEQ '0' (
    echo Requesting administrative privileges...
    goto UACPrompt
) else ( goto gotAdmin )

:UACPrompt
    echo Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
    echo args = "" >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
    echo For Each strArg in WScript.Arguments >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
    echo args = args ^& strArg ^& " "  >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
    echo Next >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"
    echo UAC.ShellExecute "%~s0", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"

    "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" %*
    exit /B

:gotAdmin
    if exist "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" ( del "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" )
    pushd "%CD%"
    CD /D "%~dp0"
:--------------------------------------

Although not directly applicable to this question, because it wants some information for the user, google brought me here when I wanted to run my .bat file elevated from task scheduler.

The simplest approach was to create a shortcut to the .bat file, because for a shortcut you can set Run as administrator directly from the advanced properties.

Running the shortcut from task scheduler, runs the .bat file elevated.

Using powershell.

If the cmd file is long I use a first one to require elevation and then call the one doing the actual work.

If the script is a simple command everything may fit on one cmd file. Do not forget to include the path on the script files.

Template:

@echo off
powershell -Command "Start-Process 'cmd' -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList '/c " comands or another script.cmd go here "'"

Example 1:

@echo off
powershell -Command "Start-Process 'cmd' -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList '/c "powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\BIN\x.ps1"'"

Example 2:

@echo off
powershell -Command "Start-Process 'cmd' -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList '/c "c:\bin\myScript.cmd"'"

When a CMD script needs Administrator rights and you know it, add this line to the very top of the script (right after any @ECHO OFF):

NET FILE > NUL 2>&1 || POWERSHELL -ex Unrestricted -Command "Start-Process -Verb RunAs -FilePath '%ComSpec%' -ArgumentList '/c \"%~fnx0\" %*'" && EXIT /b

The NET FILE checks for existing Administrator rights. If there are none, PowerShell restarts the current script (with its arguments) in an elevated shell, and the non-elevated script closes.

One-liner batch user elevation (with arguments)

Here is my one-liner version for this age-old question of batch user elevation which is still relevant today.
Simply add the code to the top of your batch script and you're good to go.

Silent

This version does not output anything nor pause execution on error.

@setlocal disabledelayedexpansion enableextensions
@echo off

:: Admin check
fltmc >nul 2>nul || set _=^"set _ELEV=1^& cd /d """%cd%"""^& "%~f0" %* ^"&&((if "%_ELEV%"=="" ((powershell -nop -c start cmd -args '/d/x/s/v:off/r',$env:_ -verb runas >nul 2>nul) || (mshta vbscript:execute^("createobject(""shell.application"").shellexecute(""cmd"",""/d/x/s/v:off/r ""&createobject(""WScript.Shell"").Environment(""PROCESS"")(""_""),,""runas"",1)(window.close)"^) >nul 2>nul)))& exit /b)

Verbose

A verbose version which tells the user that admin privileges are being requested and pauses on error before exiting.

@setlocal disabledelayedexpansion enableextensions
@echo off

:: Admin check
fltmc >nul 2>nul || set _=^"set _ELEV=1^& cd /d """%cd%"""^& "%~f0" %* ^"&&((if "%_ELEV%"=="" (echo Requesting administrator privileges...&((powershell -nop -c start cmd -args '/d/x/s/v:off/r',$env:_ -verb runas >nul 2>nul) || (mshta vbscript:execute^("createobject(""shell.application"").shellexecute(""cmd"",""/d/x/s/v:off/r ""&createobject(""WScript.Shell"").Environment(""PROCESS"")(""_""),,""runas"",1)(window.close)"^) >nul 2>nul))) else (echo This script requires administrator privileges.& pause))& exit /b)

echo Has admin permissions
echo Working dir: "%cd%"
echo Script dir: "%~dp0"
echo Script path: "%~f0"
echo Args: %*

pause

---

Method of operation

1. Uses fltmc to check for administrator privileges. (system component, included in Windows 2000+)
2. If user already has administrator privileges, continues operation normally.
3. If not, spawns an elevated version of itself using either:
   1. powershell (optional Windows feature, included in Windows 7+ by default, can be uninstalled/otherwise not available, can be installed on Windows XP/Vista)
   2. mshta (system component, included in Windows 2000+)
4. If fails to acquire elevation, stops execution (instead of looping endlessly).

What sets this solution apart from others?

There are literally hundreds of variations around for solving this issue but everything I've found so far have their shortcomings and this is an attempt of solving most of them.

• Compatibility. Using fltmc as the means of checking for privileges and either powershell or mshta for elevation works with every Windows version since 2000 and should cover most system configurations.
• Does not write any extra files.
• Preserves current working directory. Most of the solutions found conflate "script directory" with "working directory" which are totally different concepts. If you want to use "script directory" instead, replace %cd% with %~dp0. Some people advocate using pushd "%~dp0" instead so paths inside networked UNC paths like "\\SOMEONES-PC\share" will work but that will also automagically map that location to a drive letter (like Y:) which might or might not be what you want.
• Stops if unable to acquire elevation. This can happen because of several reasons, like user clicking "No" on the UAC prompt, UAC being disabled, group policy settings, etc. Many other solutions enter an endless loop on this point, spawning millions of command prompts until the heat death of the universe.
• Supports (most of) command-line arguments and weird paths. Stuff like ampersands &, percent signs %, carets ^ and mismatching amount of quotes """'. You still definitely CAN break this by passing a sufficiently weird combinations of those, but that is an inherent flaw of Windows' batch processing and cannot really be worked around to always work with any combination. Most typical use-cases should be covered though and arguments work as they would without the elevation script.

Known issues

If you enter a command-line argument that has a mismatched amount of double-quotes (i.e. not divisible by 2), an extra space and a caret ^ will be added as a last argument. For example "arg1" arg2" """" "arg3" will become "arg1" arg2" """" "arg3" ^. If that matters for your script, you can add logic to fix it, f.ex. check if _ELEV=1 (meaning that elevation was required) and then check if the last character of argument list is ^ and/or amount of quotes is mismatched and remove the misbehaving caret.

Example script for logging output to file

You cannot easily use > for stdout logging because on elevation a new cmd window is spawned and execution context switched.

You can achieve it by passing increasingly weird combinations of escape characters, like elevate.bat testarg ^^^> test.txt but then you would need to make it always spawn the new cmd window or add logic to strip out the carets, all of which increases complexity and it would still break in many scenarios.

The best and easiest way would be simply adding the logging inside your batch script, instead of trying to redirect from command line. That'll save you a lot of headache.

Here is an example how you can easily implement logging for your script:

@setlocal disabledelayedexpansion enableextensions
@echo off

:: Admin check
fltmc >nul 2>nul || set _=^"set _ELEV=1^& cd /d """%cd%"""^& "%~f0" %* ^"&&((if "%_ELEV%"=="" (echo Requesting administrator privileges...&((powershell -nop -c start cmd -args '/d/x/s/v:off/r',$env:_ -verb runas >nul 2>nul) || (mshta vbscript:execute^("createobject(""shell.application"").shellexecute(""cmd"",""/d/x/s/v:off/r ""&createobject(""WScript.Shell"").Environment(""PROCESS"")(""_""),,""runas"",1)(window.close)"^) >nul 2>nul))) else (echo This script requires administrator privileges.& pause))& exit /b)

set _log=
set _args=%*
if not defined _args goto :noargs
set _args=%_args:"=%
set _args=%_args:(=%
set _args=%_args:)=%
for %%A in (%_args%) do (if /i "%%A"=="-log" (set "_log=>> %~n0.log"))
:noargs

if defined _log (echo Logging to file %~n0.log) else (echo Logging to stdout)
echo Has admin permissions %_log%
echo Working dir: "%cd%" %_log%
echo Script dir: "%~dp0" %_log%
echo Script path: "%~f0" %_log%
echo Args: %* %_log%

echo Hello World! %_log%

pause

Run: logtest.bat -log By adding argument -log , the output will be logged to a file instead of stdout.

Closing thoughts

It bewilders me how a simple "ELEVATE" instruction has not been introduced to batch even after 15 years of UAC existing. Maybe one day Microsoft will get their shit together. Until then, we have to resort to using these hacks.

Try this:

@echo off
CLS
:init
setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
set cmdInvoke=1
set winSysFolder=System32
set "batchPath=%~0"
for %%k in (%0) do set batchName=%%~nk
set "vbsGetPrivileges=%temp%\OEgetPriv_%batchName%.vbs"
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
:checkPrivileges
NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL
if '%errorlevel%' == '0' ( goto gotPrivileges ) else ( goto getPrivileges )
:getPrivileges
if '%1'=='ELEV' (echo ELEV & shift /1 & goto gotPrivileges)
ECHO.
ECHO Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO args = "ELEV " >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO For Each strArg in WScript.Arguments >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO args = args ^& strArg ^& " "  >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO Next >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
if '%cmdInvoke%'=='1' goto InvokeCmd 
ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "!batchPath!", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
goto ExecElevation
:InvokeCmd
ECHO args = "/c """ + "!batchPath!" + """ " + args >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\cmd.exe", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
:ExecElevation
"%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\WScript.exe" "%vbsGetPrivileges%" %*
exit /B
:gotPrivileges
setlocal & cd /d %~dp0
if '%1'=='ELEV' (del "%vbsGetPrivileges%" 1>nul 2>nul  &  shift /1)
REM Run shell as admin (example) - put here code as you like
ECHO %batchName% Arguments: P1=%1 P2=%2 P3=%3 P4=%4 P5=%5 P6=%6 P7=%7 P8=%8 P9=%9
cmd /k

If you need information on that batch file, run the HTML/JS/CSS Snippet:

<data></data>

document.getElementsByTagName("data")[0].innerHTML="ElevateBatch, version 4, release<br>Required Commands:<ul><li>CLS</li><li>SETLOCAL</li><li>SET</li><li>FOR</li><li>NET</li><li>IF</li><li>ECHO</li><li>GOTO</li><li>EXIT</li><li>DEL</li></ul>It auto-elevates the system and if the user presses No, it just doesn't do anything.<br>This CANNOT be used to create an Elevated Explorer.";

data{font-family:arial;text-decoration:none}

Following solution is clean and works perfectly.

1. Download Elevate zip file from https://www.winability.com/download/Elevate.zip

2. Inside zip you should find two files: Elevate.exe and Elevate64.exe. (The latter is a native 64-bit compilation, if you require that, although the regular 32-bit version, Elevate.exe, should work fine with both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows)

3. Copy the file Elevate.exe into a folder where Windows can always find it (such as C:/Windows). Or you better you can copy in same folder where you are planning to keep your bat file.

4. To use it in a batch file, just prepend the command you want to execute as administrator with the elevate command, like this:

> elevate net start service ...